


Loving the Person that He Did

by MerryLilHobbit



Series: Life at the Hotel Transylvania [4]
Category: Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Minor Character Death, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 06:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5038117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerryLilHobbit/pseuds/MerryLilHobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a line in "As the Lily Grows", and in the same series as "A-Z of a Life", "Unfair" and "It's a What?". Johnny can't believe that his brother - his baby brother - is gone. Johnny/Mavis</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loving the Person that He Did

**Author's Note:**

> Johnny shrugged, looking rather sullen. "Matt's kids both died a few years ago, James' daughter is in an old folk's home, Daniel didn't have any...and then Chris was paralysed during a football game, so he didn't..." He took a deep breath. "Carl...look, the guy had so many girlfriends that he's probably got a ton of kids that we'll never know about. And Jake..." He sighed. "He...he..."
> 
> He was beaten up for loving the person he did.
> 
> \- "As the Lily Grows" (Chapter 3)

_It all started with that one trip. Johnny and Mavis had decided to visit Los Angeles so as to see the family; his parents, his brothers…but most of all, the new baby nephew that Matt and his wife, Rachel, had just had._

_Jake was at Matt's house when they arrived, and he greeted them in a strange half-hearted way that neither of them were used to – before they could question him on it, however, Rachel appeared holding the baby and so Mavis and Johnny found themselves rather distracted for the next few hours._

" _He is so cute!" Mavis exclaimed, looking down at the baby adoringly. "It's so weird, though; he's the first one I've seen without fur or scales!"_

_Jake, who had been watching uncomfortably with a small smile, tapped Johnny on the shoulder. "Uhmm…bro, can we have a word?"_

_Johnny gave a shrug. "Sure, man. What's up?"_

_Jake's eyes swivelled to the stairs and he gave a small nod towards them. "In private, if that's okay."_

_Matt watched them leave, and Johnny noticed that he had a look of understanding as they walked past him; Matt knew what was going to happen already, which made the red-head worry that something was terribly wrong with his brother._

_When they were alone, Jake turned to Johnny and avoided his eyes. "Hey, Johnny?"_

" _Yeah?" He looked over at his brother._

" _You'll love me no matter what, right?" Jake asked, almost hesitantly._

_Johnny gave a small grin. "Duh! I mean, come on, dude: you guys still love me even though I'm a monster now, right? You can tell me anything!"_

_Jake gave a small but bitter smile. "Yeah. Right. So…I don't know, this might shock you a bit…"_

* * *

The house was quiet when Mavis came back from her short night-trip to the hotel; she had taken Lucy with her to visit Dracula for the evening, and all parties seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed it. Dracula had spent most of the time cooing over his granddaughter and listening eagerly to her babbling, while Mavis managed to find some time to catch up with her aunts and uncles – and of course Lucy was thrilled with all the attention that was being paid to her. So, all in all, it was a good night.

"Johnny?" She called, looking around their home as she shut the door. "We're back!"

Lucy, who was in her arms, gave a small childlike giggle. "Home, Dada!"

There was no answer, and Mavis couldn't help but frown.

"Johnny? Where are you?"

Hefting the weight of their daughter in her arms, she headed for the living room to look around for him; usually when they came back from a trip he was over the moon to see them. Something just wasn't right about it.

She halted when she got to the doorway and felt somewhat relieved to see her husband sitting on the couch facing away from her. "There you are," She greeted, and she put Lucy down on the floor. "Hey, sweetie, how about you go and get your video, and we'll watch it before bedtime, okay?"

Lucy gave a nod and toddled off into the direction of her room, leaving Mavis alone with Johnny. She took a step forwards to sit with him on the couch.

"How come you didn't come and meet us? You usually-"

Mavis immediately stopped talking when she saw the look on his face. Johnny looked, simply put, _terrified_ – worse, he looked utterly _destroyed_ in that moment, a far cry from his usual happy-go-lucky nature.

"Johnny?" Mavis asked tentatively, alarmed by this sudden change. "Hon, what's the matter?"

Johnny just shook his head, closing his eyes and lifting up his hand; clutched tightly was his phone, almost as if it were a lifeline. "I…My Mom and Dad called…"

 _Oh no._ Something had to have happened in the family, and she immediately began to worry too. "What? And? What did they say?"

"I-It's Jake," Johnny managed, voice constricted as he tried not to cry. "He…He's dead, Mavis."

* * *

" _What is it, man?" Johnny prompted, somewhat concerned; what could be so bad that his brother was nervous about talking to him._

_Jake took a deep breath. "Johnny…I'm gay."_

* * *

Suddenly he was sobbing with his head in his hands, helpless as his shoulders shook from the force of it. Mavis immediately felt her heart plummet and reached out for him, pulling him into her arms.

"I don't understand," She told him, completely and utterly shocked. "But he's…he's so young! He can't be…"

Johnny shook his head, wrapping his own arms around her. "He got b-b-b-beaten up! He was out with…with W-Will, a-and these guys…they beat them up so badly that…Mavy…"

What to say? _Shh, it's okay_? No, that was not at all the thing to say.

"They killed him, Mavis!" He cried desperately, clutching her to him. "They got him so bad that they killed him! My brother, Mavy…Jake is…he's…"

* * *

" _Hang on, what?" Johnny asked, mouth falling open. "You're…but how-?"_

" _I can't change it, Johnny," Jake interrupted quietly, extremely nervous. "It's who I am."_

_Johnny didn't quite know how to react. "Uhm…okay. Sure. I just…how long have you known? What about Mom and Dad, and the others? Do they all know too?"_

" _Everyone knows," Jake confessed. "You're the last person I had to tell." He gave a small sigh. "Mom and Dad…well, they're not thrilled about it but they've told me that they still love me no matter what. Matt was completely cool about it; he's the lawyer in the family, so I guess it makes sense that he's more educated on these kinds of things. James is still a bit…so-so about the whole thing; he told me he needs some time to get used to the news first. Daniel – well, he's an actor, so he has loads of gay friends anyway, and the twins were both totally fine with it." He hesitated. "So what about you, Johnny?"_

_Johnny blinked and began to stumble his way through a response. "Well…I mean…it's cool I guess. I'm just kinda…surprised, that's all. I mean, you were always going on about girls before, so…I dunno."_

" _I get it," His youngest brother said, giving a small nod. "Look, I don't know what it's like in the monster world; whether it's everyone is accepted or if it's more traditional – or somewhere in the middle – but I wanted to tell you alone because…well, I wasn't sure how Mavis would react to it. I thought that maybe it'd be better if you told her instead of me."_

" _To be honest, man," Johnny began. "I don't exactly know what it's like in the monster world. I guess it's kinda like the human world; some are gonna be cool with it, and some aren't." He paused for a moment, mulling things over in his head. "Jake, did you really think I'd react badly?"_

_Jake gave a small shrug, going pink in the face. "No…well, I wasn't sure. Johnny, you're the brother I've always looked up to the most; I don't know if you knew that, but you are. I was worried about what you would think because of that."_

" _Jake," Johnny said seriously, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You're my baby brother; you could be a tutu-wearing circus performer and I wouldn't care." He grinned to himself slightly. "Like Drac says: human, monster, unicorn, I don't care. As long as you're happy."_

* * *

"Why would anyone do that?" Mavis whispered, holding him close to her; now that the shock was wearing off, she was feeling the sadness building up in her and threatening to spill out. "That's not right…"

"I can't believe he's gone," Johnny mumbled tearfully. "He was my baby brother, Mavy; the youngest, the one that I can remember holding in the hospital room. He's the o-one that I sat with o-on all of the Disneyland rides, the one who I took to my first Slipknot concert…it's not fair!"

* * *

" _Johnny," Jake said tearfully. "You have no idea how much this means to me…Thank You."_

" _It's cool," Johnny agreed, giving him a nod. "So…uhh…anybody that I should know about? You know, like, guy-wise?"_

_Jake couldn't help but smile at his brother. "Yeah. There's this one guy, Will. He's so sweet and supportive, you know? I really, really like him – we're going on our third date tomorrow night."_

" _That's awesome," Johnny told him, only slightly awkwardly. "As long as you're happy, Jake, then you can be with whoever you want."_

_Jake put an arm around his brother and closed his eyes. "I love you, Johnny."_

" _Ah, I love you too!" Johnny chuckled, putting his own arm around his brother._

* * *

"Daddy?"

Mavis had become so preoccupied by Johnny's news that she had almost forgotten about their daughter still being the house, and she pulled away from her husband slightly to look at her.

"Lucy, sweetie, Daddy's-"

Lucy frowned, looking adorably confused as she gazed at her father. "Daddy sad?" She dropped the toy in her hand and moved forwards to climb into his lap. "Daddy, why sad?"

Johnny gave a sniffle and couldn't help but pull her into him. "Daddy's fine, Lu, I just…"

"Don' be sad," She told him, rather distressed. She reached a chubby hand up to touch his cheek. "Pwease don' be sad."

He tried to give her a half-hearted smile but failed miserably when it just made him want to cry harder. "Oh, Lu…I-I'm so s-s-sorry…"

As Johnny began to cry again, Lucy gave a small noise of alarm and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It okay, Daddy. Love you."

He squeezed her back almost protectively as the tears flowed, extremely thankful that she was there in that moment. "I know, Lu. I love you too."

* * *

The next few days were, of course, nothing short of miserable. Gone was the happy go-lucky red-haired vampire that Mavis knew and loved, and in his place was a heartbroken and depressed stranger. It hurt her heart, to say the least, and Mavis found herself not only suffering from her own misery but sharing in on Johnny's too.

As for Lucy, she was just plain confused and sad. She didn't quite understand what had happened to make her father so upset and unhappy, but it was distressing to her. Still, she seemed to be stronger than they thought; she never left Johnny's side, keeping cuddled into his side at all times to try and comfort him.

The funeral was to take place in Los Angeles – and of course they were invited, but there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether they'd be able to make it: if the sun was out on that day, then there'd be no way that they could attend. Still, Mavis booked the tickets for them to go to Los Angeles as seeing the family and grieving together was bound to be helpful to everyone involved.

Luckily, Los Angeles appeared to be going through a rainy summer that year and so it was more than easy to travel – if anything, the only problem was flying with a fidgety and uncomfortable child for all of those hours.

Johnny's mother, Jean, greeted them at the door when they arrived; she looked so much older than Mavis remembered, though whether that was due to grief or simply old age, she didn't know.

"It's nice of you to come all the way out here," She greeted tiredly, giving Mavis a small hug as they came through into the house. "We didn't know if you'd be able to make it."

"We wanted to come," Mavis told her firmly, quickly giving Johnny a worried look. "Maybe being around you guys would help us…move past it."

Jean said nothing more on the matter, instead beaming half-heartedly at Lucy, who was attempting to hide from view by burying herself into Johnny's neck. "She's gotten so much bigger since we last saw her – she must be quite a few years old now."

"Would you believe me if I said nearly thirteen years old?" Mavis tried to lightly joke, although she didn't feel up to it at all. "It must only be two or three years for humans, right?"

The rest of the family were also residing either in the house or nearby in Matt and Rachel's home; seeing all of Johnny's brothers again was both wonderful and painful – there was clearly someone missing from the dynamic, a painfully empty spot that should have been filled.

"You look good, Mavis," Matt muttered quietly, giving her a small squeeze when he saw her. "It's been too long since we last saw you guys."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Mavis apologized weakly. "Having a baby makes it difficult to travel."

He gave a small smile. "Tell me about it. Thank God those days are over for me and Rachel now."

Although she was aware of the difference in aging and lifespans between humans and vampires, it was still a huge shock for Mavis when she saw Josh again – gone was the three year old who had climbed into her lap and there was a sixteen year old young man who looked only vaguely alike to that memory. It was almost as surprising when she saw his brother, Max, who was the same age as her own daughter, almost as tall as him.

Despite being around the family, Johnny's mood didn't improve much; occasionally he would give a weak smile when someone spoke to him or told a joke, but he was spending most of the time on the couch silently, looking exhausted and ill. At first he would sit with Lucy on his lap, but after a few hours of being in the house she had become confident enough to play with her cousin, James' daughter, who was only four but still looked slightly older.

The family that usually bustled and burst with energy was, clearly, devastated by the loss – they all knew something was missing, and so the atmosphere between all of them became subdued and sad.

* * *

By the end of the night, Mavis realized that there was only one person whom she couldn't name or link to the family – although it soon dawned on her after a moment's thought.

"Is that Jake's boyfriend?" She asked Rachel quietly.

The other woman gave a small nod. "Yes. He's been staying here with Jean and Joe since what happened…apparently he doesn't feel ready to go back to their apartment – I don't blame him really."

Jake's boyfriend – who Mavis remembered was named Will – looked absolutely dreadful; he was avoiding eye contact with the family, and if he was present in the room then he said nothing so as to be left alone.

He would have done just that if Mavis didn't approach him an hour later while he was in the kitchen.

"Hello," She said cautiously; they were alone as all of the family were in the front room. "I know that you don't know me – I'm Mavis, Johnny's wife."

Will gave a small nod. "Hi."

There was an awkward silence in the room as Mavis glanced down at her shoes, trying to think of what to say; for a start, she didn't know if Will was aware of the monster world, or what she could say that wouldn't be too insensitive.

"I'm sorry about Jake," She said finally, not quite sure if she should say it in case it upset him further. "He was a great guy – better than that – and I…I miss him too."

Will looked up at her, and Mavis noticed – to her horror – that his face was battered and bruised with half-healed cuts from the incident. "You knew Jake then?" He asked hoarsely.

"Yeah, kind of," She answered carefully. "I used to see him whenever we came over here – he even came to Transylvania for our wedding. He was…nice." She finished lamely.

He gave her a strained smile. "Yeah, he was."

Before she could try to initiate the conversation again, Will walked out of the kitchen hurriedly without another word. While this kind of behaviour Mavis would have deemed rude, she decided that, given the circumstances, it was understandable.

For a moment, Mavis tried to imagine how she might have behaved if she were in Will's place and she lost Johnny; she stopped when it made her head hurt and her eyes water.

* * *

The day of the funeral was rainy, to say least; when the casket was lowered, there were dark grey clouds covering the sky, and it was only when everyone began to leave that the first droplets began to appear.

Each of Jake's brothers said something at the funeral, although in most cases it was something short and to the point. Matt's speech, as the eldest, was slightly longer as he recounted his memories of his brother's birth and childhood, moving on to discuss how proud he was of him. James looked just about ready to break down when he made his speech, and his voice was thick as he described his guilt at being hesitant to accept his youngest brother for what he was. Daniel, the actor in the family, merely said, "I love you, brother. I always will" before sitting down again. The twins, Chris and Carl, spoke together; as always, they finished each other's sentences, although Carl spoke less than his brother.

When it was Johnny's turn to speak, it was clear that he had no idea what he was going to say. Mavis could only watch with their daughter in her lap as he began to speak off of the top of his head.

"Jake…Man, what can I say about Jake?" He sighed, looking down at the floor. "I know that everyone thinks that since we were four years apart and because I live halfway around the world that we weren't close, but they're totally wrong. Jake was…well, he was Jake. 'Cause he was the youngest, the others kinda teased him about it but…I didn't. He was the brother I took to see my first Slipknot concert with, the one who I always sat next to on a ride." He gave a small shrug. "When I got married, he was the one who partied the night before with me; the one who made sure that I didn't forget the ring. Without him, it's just…not right."

What was even worse was when Jean and Joe had to speak; Jean could barely say two words before she stopped speaking, tears in her eyes, and her husband had to take over. It was clear that, despite the masks they were putting on, they were inconsolable.

As Lucy rested her head on her mother's shoulder, looking rather sullen, Mavis tightened her grip on her protectively.

She desperately hoped that she never had to bury one of her kids.

* * *

They headed back to Transylvania soon after that, Johnny more reluctantly than Mavis, and things remained miserable for the next few weeks.

Instead of playing with his daughter like he used to, Johnny was spending more and more time on the roof of the house looking out at the trees morosely – he only moved when Mavis approached him shortly before sunrise and pleaded him to come inside. In fact, it soon became clear that he was barely eating or drinking his blood beaters – something that was making Mavis worry more and more each day.

Eventually she confronted him cautiously about it, telling him that while she knew he was upset it wouldn't do any good to not take care of himself.

Johnny gave a sigh and rubbed at his eyes. "I'm sorry, Mavy. I just…I dunno. It's like, every night when I wake up I almost forget for a second – just a second – that he's dead…and then I remember and everything feels so much worse." He rested his chin on his knees, which were pulled against his chest. "I'm scared I'll forget him, Mavis. He's not here anymore to call or talk to, or even FaceTime! I know that I won't really forget but…I'm still scared."

"I understand," Mavis told him quietly, resting her head against his. "I'm worried about forgetting him too; he was an amazing brother, and I really think that he was like a brother to _me_ sometimes." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I know it's stupid, but seeing your parents just made me think…I don't _ever_ want anything like that to happen to us, or even anyone we know. It would hurt too much."

"I know," Johnny mumbled, somewhat guilty. "I feel bad about feeling so sad though; sometimes I think that I just need to snap out of it and make the most of what we've got…like Lucy…God, I've been such a totally awful father lately."

"No you haven't," Mavis disagreed. "You're a great father, and don't you forget it; you just need some time to deal with everything, that's all." She dropped her head to the crook of his neck, not quite sure whether to go on. "You're a great father to Lucy and…and you will be to the next one."

For a moment there was utter silence and still; neither of them moved or said anything as it sank in.

"Are you…Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Johnny asked, pulling back to look at her with wide eyes. "Are you…?"

Mavis gave a small smile. "Yeah. I am. I found out about a week ago but…but I didn't know if it would be the right time to tell you." Her smile faded slightly. "Is it too much for you?"

"Too much?" He questioned, and suddenly a grin was lighting up his face. "Too much?! Mavis, this is awesome news! We're having another one!"

She tried not to laugh as he practically launched himself at her, pressing kisses against her face excitedly. "I'm glad that you're pleased; I spoke to a doctor at the hotel and they said it'll be around the end of February."

"February..." Johnny's excited grin faltered as he pulled back. "Jake's birthday is…was…in February."

"I know," Mavis said, somewhat anxiously. "So I've been thinking…perhaps if the baby's a boy we name it after him or something?"

Johnny gave a small nod as he thought to himself. "Yeah, maybe. You know, Jake's full name was actually Jacob; he didn't like it, so he started going by Jake instead – sometimes, to annoy him, we'd call him 'Jack'."

Mavis smiled at this. "I like that name."

"Me too," Johnny stated. "I just thought that no one can replace Jake…he was my brother." His tone became softer as he said this. "And it seems kind of unfair on the kid, naming him after my brother, because then I'll just think of Jake whenever I see him…but if it's something similar then it might work."

"It looks like we've decided on a boy's name," Mavis agreed, putting a hand on her stomach contently. "But only if you're happy with it."

Johnny grinned, reaching out for her hand. "Mavy, I'm _so_ happy about it."


End file.
